Medical Supplies Distribution Software

IBS is a partner with medical equipment and supplies (MES) distributors in delivering products that are aimed at promoting health and prolonging life. IBS' integrated business software solution, ENTERPRISE, is designed to handle all aspects of MES distribution. The solution has built-in functionality that enhances and optimizes routines from sales orders to warehousing and logistics, all the way through to financial operations and business analysis.

ENTERPRISE is a world-leading business software suite for distribution and supply chain management. It is designed to fulfil the requirements of worldwide business-to-business trading. According to recent studies conducted by AMR Research and Frost & Sullivan, IBS is a consistent top market leader and supplier for supply chain execution and management software.

IBS is at the leading edge of solutions that are a natural fit for the needs of the MES distribution industry. IBS supply chain systems can help MES distributors to:

• Achieve maximum control of inventory
• Earn high levels of customer satisfaction
• Handle high order volumes during peak hours
• Measure and attain profitability and ROI
• Reach and maintain desired quality levels
• Track product by lot, serial or batch numbers

The IBS service portfolio offers a broad range of professional services, including the mapping of business processes, technical know-how and implementation, training, Project Management and pure business consulting. The services are characterized by quality and competence.

IBS consultants have profound knowledge about customers' business operations and provide continuous service after implementation. This long-term partnership generates major benefits for customers in terms of Time and money and is one of the reasons why IBS repeatedly ranks very high in customer satisfaction ratings.

Integrated tools for business analysis can enable your business to maximize profits and control critical success factors such as:

• Automated business processes
• Automated decision support
• Business partner performance overviews based on item and customer profitability
• Fill rates and deliveries on time, with shorter lead-times
• Periodical, measured improvements in KPIs and subsequent ROI
• Procurement optimization
• Visible supply chains and successful collaboration

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Tailored for medical equipment and supplies distribution

The IBS solution can help you to drive down costs, as well as maximize and measure profitability. Crucial areas within MES distribution benefit from the IBS software's powerful and dynamic functionality, including:

• Financials and Business Intelligence
• Inventory and warehousing
• Logistics and delivery
• Sales order management

In addition to the IBS software suite, ENTERPRISE, which is developed specifically for supply chain needs, the IBS IT solution offers top-level servers and operating systems.

IBS software consists of integrated modules that provide a comprehensive solution to your business, with functionality that focuses on specific needs for medical equipment and supplies (MES) distribution. The solution is designed to automate processes, derive the utmost value from all transaction information and provide you and your customers with the best business practices.

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CRM and sales order management

All system information is available to help build and maintain good customer relationships. CUSTOMER MANAGEMENT CONSOLE provides a 360-degree view of all customer interactions and details, helping you meet customer expectations with a consistent and intelligent approach. Other IBS solution advantages – such as EDI, XML and web-service communications, customer-based forecasting with Customer Delivery Schedules, 24/7 customer Internet access to NetStore, and follow-up and service functionality – can enable you to attain customer satisfaction and retention, with winnings in sales and profits.

The IBS solution for MES distribution helps with the following advantages, which are only a few of the many functions that support CRM and sales order management:

• CALL AND CONTACT PLANNING

  Call plans define daily work schedules for your sales operatives and provide such information as time to call, customer information, contact names and telephone numbers. Sales orders can be placed directly from the contact plan. You can gain a unique advantage over your competitors

• CREDIT CHECKS AND PAYMENTS

  Automatic support for credit overdraw percentage helps fulfil orders without permanently increasing overall credit exposure. A warning informs you when a customer's ordinary credit limit is exceeded, and orders are held if the overdraw percentage is also exceeded. Credit holds on order line level allow efficient management of orders based on sales order lines

• ELECTRONIC ORDER AND RE-ORDER ENTRY

  Orders can be placed from via direct communication lines, PC/laptop or palm-top devices. An automatic stock availability request and response is performed, returning shipping details and timing, customer A/R status, order history, item pricing and backorder status. Re-ordering is easier and lead-times and errors can be minimized, leading to greater customer satisfaction

• PRICING FLEXIBILITY

  Pricing methods are built into the system to help attract and keep customers, including discount methods, buying groups, baskets (parcels) and order summary discounts, with complete sales price visibility to let customers know exact cost details

• RETURNS HANDLING

  The return of goods, for wrong delivery or damage, must be handled quickly and efficiently. Mandatory return reason codes at the order line level enhance quality control and avoid frequent defects. Customer returns are facilitated with automatic return collection notes on delivery lists for drivers

• SALES WAKE-UP CALLS

  The IBS solution automatically reminds your customers to place sales orders when time is running short, helping to reduce lead-times, ensure re-orders and keep customers pleased with your service

• SUBSTITUTES AND COMPLEMENTARY PRODUCTS

  Automatic recommendations for product substitutions help win and maintain sales in case of inventory outage. The system provides listings of items with the same or similar characteristics, as well as complementary items

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Procurement

Supplier agreement management is also a top requirement for any IT solution that caters to MES needs. Functionality that makes forecasting more accurate and easier is another vital piece to a procurement solution.

IBS provides all of these capabilities integrated into its supply chain solution for procurement, which includes:

• AUTOMATIC PROCUREMENT SUGGESTIONS

  A purchase suggestion is generated when a customer's buying pattern deviates from the regular purchase plan. Automatic monitoring, detection and notification reduce the risk of unexpected stock-outs, helping to maintain optimum inventory and customer service

• AUTOMATIC PURCHASE ORDER CREATION

  Automatic purchasing is essential for high product volume held at multi-distribution centers. The IBS solution creates a purchase order when a specified number of purchase suggestions are confirmed and closed. This helps to reduce data entry errors and shorten lead-times

• CENTRALIZED PURCHASING

  The IBS solution has powerful functionality that supports centralized purchasing in a multi-company environment, including the ability to coordinate invoices from multiple locations in a centralized data system. Support for EDI, XML and web-service communications ensures quick and accurate transmission of data

• DEMAND PLANNINGDEMAND PLANNING

  Demand history and customer forecast figures, with current and accurate inventory levels, give you the information you need to make accurate procurement forecasts. With IBS, you can fulfil promises to customers while maintaining minimum inventory to make the best use of capital outlays

• INVENTORY CALCULATION

  The IBS solution makes it easy to determine your SST (safety stock), ROP (re-order points) and EOQ (Economical Quantity) flexibility in a choice of methods on a variety of levels. Separate rules can be applied to either different products or different product groups

• PROMOTIONS, REBATES AND CHARGE-BACKS

  Automated support for on-invoice and off-invoice discounts, mark-ups, rebates, charge-back promotions, co-operative advertising promotions and other incentive programs helps you maintain margins with swift processing of chargebacks to manufacturers. This functionality is especially critical if your MES distribution sells to customers through negotiated GPO contracts

• SUPPLIER AGREEMENT AND PRICE NEGOTIATION

  Supplier Marketing Support lets you take greater advantage of supplier discount programs. The software handles complex supplier rebate rules and can help you negotiate the best supplier agreements and prices

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Inventory and warehouse management

• AUTOMATED RECEIVING, CROSS-DOCKING, PUTAWAY AND PICKING

  The system helps to automate physical flow within a warehouse, optimizing space and reducing operational and capital costs. Pallet generation and labelling, restriction identification, and flexible pick rules are integrated into the solution

• BAR CODE AND RADIO FREQUENCY (RF) SCANNING

  The IBS solution's full support for bar code and RF scanning speeds warehouse instructions, dispatching and Inventory Control

• CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES HANDLING AND REPORTING

  Some regulated products, such as vaccines or other ethical drugs, are handled within MES distribution. The IBS solution lets you automatically monitor and track these controlled substances to ensure compliance with regulations

• INTEGRATED SUPPLY MANAGEMENT

  Supplier Managed Inventory (SMI) or Vendor Managed Inventory (VMI) agreements are typical arrangements for medical-related goods distribution. Customer Delivery Schedules automates replenishment, lets you handle net and gross forecasts, and enhances customer communications with EDI, XML or web-service capability

• INTERFACE WITH WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION SYSTEMS

  Warehouses are typically large and may contain in excess of 150,000 different products. Most large distribution centers have automated picking systems, such as Peem or Knapp, to handle large order volumes and the extensive product range. The IBS solution interfaces with these warehouse automation systems and supports such functions as container routing, send pick instructions and receive pick confirmation. Interfacing results in shorter lead-times, reduced delivery errors and, ultimately, increased customer satisfaction

• KITTING AND BUNDLING

  Case packs, in which a variety of products are packaged and shipped as a unit, are a common requirement for MES distributors, especially with hospital and long-term care facilities. The IBS solution offers full capability for kitting and bundling, letting you deliver exactly what the customer specifies

• LOT TRACKING

  The ability to trace goods is paramount for many medical products. Many healthcare items are tracked on a FEFO (first expiration date first out) basis and must be monitored for shelf life and regulatory reasons. In addition, products such as vaccines must be held and handled separately in a secure area. The IBS solution lets you monitor and trace goods by item code, batch or serial number to ensure precision and efficiency, with direct impacts on time and costs

• MSDS TRACKING

  Distributors of hazardous materials, such as radiology chemicals, are often required to have Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) forms available to buyers. The system provides for automatic generation of these forms

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Logistics and delivery

• BACK-TO-BACK DELIVERY

  You can easily coordinate direct deliveries from suppliers to customers, helping to avoid the costs of receiving and picking sold goods

• CROSS-DOCKING, PUTAWAY, PICKING AND PACKING

  The IBS solution helps you to optimize these warehouse routines that are aimed at faster delivery, which can result in shorter lead-times. The system takes into account all available information, including stock on hand, delivery dates and priorities, to help ensure the most efficient logistics. Automated picking and cross-docking are crucial for consolidating orders, in which individual picking lists are grouped under one consolidation number, as is common with hospital deliveries. Multiple orders from each customer also require consolidation so that all products are picked at the same time. For faster loading of vans, pick lists include information about total weight and volume, route and preferred vehicle

• DATA INTERFACES

  Pre-wholesalers offer an additional service on behalf of manufacturers by providing a 3PL function, along with many other added services, such as invoicing, cash collection, forecasting, etc. IBS can provide essential electronic data interfaces such as purchase order notices, sales orders, despatches and stock data to assist in these areas

• REVERSE LOGISTICS

  BUSINESS PARTNER REQUEST is designed specifically to manage returned products in close collaboration with your warehousing operations, helping to accelerate the returns and credit process. Automated reverse logistics functionality is especially useful in handling the return of products that are recalled because of regulatory decisions

• SERIAL NUMBER TRACKING

  Total, automated tracking power lets you track individual items through serial number, with lot and batch tracking also fully supported

• TOUR PLANNING

  A tour is defined to cover a sequence of customers in a specific region where products are to be delivered. Tour planning enhances the delivery process and lessens the delivery time to the customer, resulting in increased customer satisfaction

• TRUCK ROUTING AND PLANNING

  Automated shipping optimisation helps you dispatch stock efficiently based on system-supplied shipment plans, delivery advice and route plan creation, along with freight documents and loading area instructions. The IBS solution also provides support for non-fleet shipping management

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Service management

Transparency, scalability and easy-to-use features let your company integrate its service operations with the entire system. The IBS service solution includes agreement and warranty handling, extensive CRM functionality, graphical tools for resource planning, office-field entry and information updating, service kits handling, resource planning, flexible pricing and charging methods, advanced follow-up capability, time reporting and communications with EDI, XML, web services and other methods.

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Planning and forecasting

Comprehensive planning capabilities from IBS are based on proven ideas that give practical, profitable results. Demand-driven forecasting, controlled by rules and methods, can help your business to respond quickly to dynamic markets. If your company depends instead on planned forecasting, or manual forecasting controlled by the market and capacity, the IBS solution can also handle this need.

Integrated planning with the IBS system helps you make the best use of inventory and resources to satisfy market demands with efficient planning.

These practices help you to fulfil orders and reduce lead-times, while at the same time maintaining cost-effective stock levels.

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Financial management

• CENTRALIZED FINANCIAL OPERATIONS

  IBS financial routines handle G/L company consolidation, with flexible options for consolidating information in multi-level company structures operating with different system currencies and chart of accounts into a corporate format

• ORDER LINE PRICING

  The IBS solution handles flexible pricing issues, including contract pricing, multiple price lists, sales promotions, annual rebates and discounting. Automatic order line pricing results in faster invoicing, improved accuracy and reduced days outstanding

• TAX ACCOUNTING

  The IBS solution fully supports the handling of value added tax (VAT) and general sales tax (GST) requirements in most countries. Taxable amounts and taxes levied are calculated automatically and carried over to invoices and accounting routines

• WARRANTY AND MAINTENANCE TRACKING

  Warranty claim processing and service contracts can take up costly financial administrative time. IBS' financial solution has built-in automation and optimization of warranty and service maintenance issues, with detailed cost accounting and reporting functionality

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Business Intelligence

Pre-loaded client applications with OLAP (On-Line Analytical Processing) tools for data marts are included. The IBS solution uses SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference-model) to help measure business performance.

Contact IBS for more information on Medical Supplies distribution software. »